List of Adolf Hitler's directives

Adolf Hitler's directives, or Führer directives (Führerbefehle), were instructions and strategic plans issued by Adolf Hitler himself during the period of his rule over Germany. They covered a wide range of subjects, from detailed direction of the Armed Forces' operations during World War II, to the governance of occupied territories and their populations.

History

The failure of the Nazis' attempted coup in 1923 made the Nazis realize that force was not always the best solution. The failure taught the Nazis that mass participation was necessary for them to achieve their goals. This participation required a legal basis in order to ensure that the public cooperated with the Nazis as a civic duty.

Hitler put this lesson into practice as soon as he became Chancellor. First, he successfully convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to sign the Reichstag Fire Decree after the Reichstag fire incident in late February 1933, which essentially suspended the Constitution and most civil liberties in the country, which gave the Nazis free rein to eliminate their political opponents. After Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler had the Reichstag pass the Enabling Act, which not only merged the offices of the President and Chancellor into one office, but also gave the Chancellor the power to make laws without the approval of the Reichstag. This new power meant that the Nazis could now freely turn their political ideologies into national policy without worry of hindrances from existing legislation.

In practice, however, Hitler mainly used this power to secure personal control over the armed forces, particularly during the course of the war. He achieved this through issuing executive instructions called "Führer Directives", which were absolutely binding and were to be followed to the letter without question. The Directives superseded all other laws in the country, including the Constitution. However, they should not be confused with the Führer's Orders, issued late in the war, which were more precise and low-level, and could be written or oral. They were as binding as the more general Directives.[1]

The directives
Directive No Date issued Subject Notes Full text
1 September 1, 1939 Plan of Attack on Poland Invasion of Poland [2]
2 September 3, 1939 Hostilities in the West
3 September 9, 1939 Transfer of Forces from Poland to the West
4 September 25, 1939 Finishing the War in Poland
5 September 30, 1939 Partition of Poland, removing restrictions on naval warfare.
6 October 9, 1939 Plans for Offensive in the West
7 October 18, 1939 Preparations for Attack in the West
8 November 20, 1939 Further Preparations for Attack in the West
9 November 29, 1939 Instructions for Warfare against the Economy of the Enemy
10 January 19-February 18, 1940 Concentration of Forces for "Case Yellow" (Fall Gelb) Manstein Plan
10a March, 1940 Case "Weser Exercise" against Denmark and Norway Operation Weserübung
11 May 14, 1940 The Offensive in the West
12 May 18, 1940 Prosecution of the Attack in the West
13 May 24, 1940 Next Object in the West
14 June 8, 1940 Continuation of the Offensive in France
15 June 14, 1940 Advance on the Loire
16 July 16, 1940 Preparations for Operation Sea Lion Specifies a broad front landing on south coast of England from Ramsgate to Isle of Wight. [3]
17 August 1, 1940 Battle of Britain [4]
18 November 12, 1940 Seizure of Gibraltar Operation Felix Full text
19 December 10, 1940 German occupation of Vichy France Operation Attila Full text
20 December 13, 1940 German invasion of Greece Operation Marita [5]
21 December 18, 1940 Invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa Full text; Alt. Full text
22 January 11, 1941 German Support for Battles in the Mediterranean Area Operation Sonnenblume
23 February 6, 1941 Directions for Operations against the English War Economy
24 March 5, 1941 Co-operation with Japan
25 March 27, 1941 Plan of Attack on Yugoslavia Operation Strafe[6]
26 April 3, 1941 Co-operation with our Allies in the Balkans
27 April 4, 1941 Plan of Attack on Greece
28 April 25, 1941 Invasion of Crete Operation Mercury [7]
29 May 17, 1941 Proposed Military Government of Greece [8]
30 May 23, 1941 Support of anti-British forces in Iraq (see Führer Directive No. 30)
31 June 9, 1941 German Military Organisation in the Balkans Battle of Crete
32 June 11, 1941 Plans following defeat of the Soviet Union Operation Orient Full text
32a July 14, 1941 Use of resources following defeat of the Soviet Union Full text
33 July 19, 1941 Continuation of the War in the East Two Panzer Groups were removed from Army Group Centre, depriving it of the armour which it would otherwise have used to attack Moscow.[9]
33a July 23, 1941 Supplement to 33
34 July 30, 1941 Strengthening Soviet resistance
34a August 12, 1941 Supplement to 34
35 September 6, 1941 Closing the encirclement of Leningrad, destruction of the Southwestern Front Battle of Moscow, Siege of Leningrad
36 September 22, 1941 Instructions for Winter operations in the Arctic Instructions to the Army High Command, Norway, the navy and the air force for winter operations in and around northern Norway, Finland, and the Soviet Arctic regions.
37 October 10, 1941 Reorganizing forces in the Arctic
38 December 2, 1941 Transfer of air units to the Mediterranean
39 December 8, 1941 Abandoning the Offensive
40 March 23, 1942 Competence of Commanders in Coastal Areas Command Organization of the Coasts Atlantic Wall;[10] [11]
41 April 5, 1942 Summer Campaign in the Soviet Union Operation Blue [12]
42 May 29, 1942 Instructions for operations against unoccupied France and the Iberian Peninsula Operation Attila replaced by Case Anton; Operation Isabella cancelled; [13]
43 July 11, 1942 Continuation of Operations from the Crimea
44 July 21, 1942 Operations in Northern Finland
45 July 23, 1942 Continuation of Operation Brunswick
46 August 18, 1942 Instructions for Intensified Action Against Banditry in the East
47 December 28, 1942 Outlines the Chain of command for the South Eastern Mediterranean, and defensive strategies for a possible Allied attack on the Balkans and surrounding islands.
48 July 26, 1943 Command and defence measures in the southeast
49 July, 1943 Believed to be a contingency plan to seize Italian positions in the event of their withdrawal from the war. Did not survive?
50 September 28, 1943 Concerning the preparations for the withdrawal of 20th Mountain Army to Northern Finland and Northern Norway
51 November 3, 1943 Preparations for a two-front war [14]
52 January 28, 1944 Battle of Rome Battle of Monte Cassino
53 March 8, 1944 Establishment of fortified areas and strong points
54 April 2, 1944 Measures to halt the Soviet advance in the East
55 May 16, 1944 Utilization of long range bombardment against England
56 July 12, 1944 Orders for the protection of shipping
57 July 13, 1944 Protocols for how authorities should operate in the event of an invasion of the Reich
58 July 19, 1944 Preparations for the defense of the Reich
59 July 23, 1944 Reorganization of Army Group North's command structure
60 July 26, 1944 Defensive measures for the Italian Alps
61 August 24, 1944 Establishment of defensive positions in the West
62 August 29, 1944 Establishment of defenses along the German northern coastal regions
63 September 1, 1944 Order for the West Wall to be on the defensive
64 September 3, 1944 Orders for Commander-in-Chief West
64a September 7, 1944 Conferring powers to Commander-in-Chief West
64b September 9, 1944 Supplement to 64a
65 September 12, 1944 Defensive measures for the South-East
66 September 19–22, 1944 Second decree on command authority within the Reich in the event of invasion
67 November 28, 1944 Exercise of command for isolated units
68 January 21, 1945 Reestablishing the command supremacy of the Fuhrer
69 January 28, 1945 Employment of the Volkssturm
70 February 5, 1945 Evacuation of refugees from the East to Denmark
71 March 20, 1945 Orders for a scorched earth campaign within the Reich "Decree Concerning Demolitions in the Reich Territory" also known as Nero Decree
72 April 7, 1945 Reorganization of command in the West
73 April 15, 1945 Organization of command in the event Northern and Southern Germany are separated
74 April 15, 1945 Order of the day to soldiers on the Eastern Front [15]

References
  1. Wade, Michael S (2002). Leadership's adversary: winning the war between leadership and management. Nova Science Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 1-59033-211-3.
  2. "Führer Directive 1". www.alternatewars.com.
  3. "Fuhrer Directive 16". www.alternatewars.com.
  4. "Fuhrer Directive 17". www.alternatewars.com.
  5. "Führer Directive x". www.alternatewars.com.
  6. Crete 1941: Germany’s lightning airborne assault, Peter Antill p.12
  7. "Führer Directive x". www.alternatewars.com.
  8. "Führer Directive x". www.alternatewars.com.
  9. Peter Antill; Peter Dennis (2007). Stalingrad 1942. Osprey Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-84603-028-4.
  10. Zaloga, Steven J. (2007). The Atlantic Wall. Osprey Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 9781846031298.
  11. "Führer-Directive 40". www.alternatewars.com.
  12. "Führer Directive 41". WW2DB.
  13. "Führer Directive 42". www.alternatewars.com.
  14. "Führer-Directive 51".
  15. Full text
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